Perceism
by Pencilvester
Summary: What if, one day you woke up and suddenly all of your flaws just... Disappeared. The person staring back at you in the mirror isn't the same as the one who went to bed... You wake up in a brand new body, your old one still sleeping in your bed. What do you do? High school AU and very OOC characters.
1. My mom beats up my bullies

**Heyo, what up? I'm no stranger to the FFN game I suppose. This is my alter ego tho, I guess a sort of fresh start. Ah, but you guys don't really care about that, so all you need to know is that:**

 **I don't own Percy Jackson OR the concept/idea of this story** **. Seriously, the concept of this story (as far as I know) was thought up by a certain** **Taejoon Park and his awesome webtoon** _ **LOOKISM**_ **. All props go to him, and I seriously recommend you go read that webtoon, it's so worth it.**

 **Now that we've gotten all of that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the ride :)**

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I hate my life.

I hate everything about it.

I hate my haircut. I hate the fact that I'm overweight. I hate that I'm poor. I hate that I'm not that smart. I hate that I have no friends. I hate my stepfather. I hate the bullies. I hate my name. I hate school. I hate my very existence.

I hate everyone and everything.

That was all I could think about to keep me sane, while my head bully _Kronos_ was making me kneel on the piss covered floor of the boys toilet, my head bowed.

The cigarette smoke was suffocating.

But I couldn't leave.

Because Kronos was in a bad mood.

And I...

I was this bastard's pet.

"Yo Monkey, if the teacher comes, use your fat body and stop him." Kronos ordered, while blowing smoke in my face.

I stayed quiet, because in the past I got the shit beaten out of me for making any kind of noise that wasn't asked for. Then again, he just beat me up whenever he wanted to. He always had an excuse. I just clenched my jaw.

"..."

"Hey. You're not gonna answer?" Kronos said, a mad glint in his eyes.

Damn. This wasn't good.

"Oo oo ah ah!" I tried to rectify the situation by making monkey sounds. It was degrading to say the least, but also a hell of a lot better than a beating. I've had to give up my pride a long time ago. "Oo ah ah! Oo ah ah!"

"Are you shitting me? Do the Pikachu. Now." Kronos growled, his foot dangerously close to my face. I shuddered, a reflex born out of conditioning.

"Pika Pika!" I shouted, doing my best to match Pikachus voice.

"Be good, okay?" Kronos said, a smug grin adorning his face.

He placed his right foot on my head, I just continued to say 'Pika Pika' in a high-pitched voice. Ugh, his shoes were wet. Was that piss? Bastard.

And all of a sudden, he smashed his foot against my head, my face making contact with the disgusting floor. He placed more of his weight on the foot and leaned closer to my face, blowing smoke at me.

"Don't let the teacher bust us again. Understood?" He growled, pushing his foot down on my head. It hurt. But I've had worse. He could do worse. He's already done worse.

"Do the pig." He ordered, placing even more weight on his right foot. And like his damned pet, I did. I oinked, and oinked, hating myself for not being strong enough.

Somewhere in the background I could hear someone telling Kronos to stop, but I knew he wouldn't stop.

He never stops.

I stood up, wishing more than anything that I could wipe my face. But Kronos ordered me to stand still.

I looked him in the eyes. Those cold, lifeless gold eyes, the scar on the left side of his face just making him all the more menacing. I saw them in my nightmares. They always held negative emotions. I knew he'd be mad at me for making eye contact, but after all these years I still held my head up high. I may not have pride, but I still had hope. I don't know why or how. But there was still hope. It kept lessening each day, but there was still a little left.

I clung on to that, with everything I had.

-Line Break-

We were at the back of the class and I was surrounded by Kronos' gang, the Titans. I suppose you could say I was part of them. As their bitch. I wondered what Kronos was gonna do this time.

It looked as if he was about to throw a baseball, the way he stood reminded me of a baseball pitcher. What? What was he planning on doing? I didn't have to wait long to find out.

Suddenly his fist connected with my gut, the air was pushed out of me. I couldn't breathe. I made my best not to make any sound, I was on my knees clutching my stomach. I groaned quietly, knowing worse would come my way if I made too much noise. I also didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

"That's how you throw your first punch." Kronos explained. "One shot, one kill."

"Wow, he's really down!" Hyperion exclaimed with glee, he was Kronos' right-hand man. Lackey was more like it if you asked me. But geez, what was with their weird names? I've always wondered. There's no way in Hades I'm asking them that though. I don't know if their parents hated them or something, and frankly I didn't care.

"Get up, Piggy." Kronos barked, and like a good pet I stood up immediately. I loathed myself sometimes so much. Especially in moments like these.

"Pi... Pika!" I said, the words hard to form without air in my lungs.

Kronos laughed with glee at my 'enthusiasm'.

"Loser." Hyperion coughed out not so subtly. "Hey Kronos, make him do the thing."

Kronos gave me a wicked look. "Pikachu thunderbolt."

Oh no. Not the bolt strike! How I hated that.

Still I bent over, placed my hands on the floor, and looked up. I tensed my whole body and shouted "PIKAAA!" in the highest pitch I could. I never wanted to kill myself more than I did in that moment.

No one helped me. They were all just glad they weren't in my place, content with laughing at me. If only I was stronger...

"Hey Kronos, do me a favor."

"What is it?"

"Lend me your Pikachu for once." What?! No! I'm not some object.

"Why?"

"Today's my 100th day anniversary with my girl and I have this idea..."

-Line Break-

Why can't I disobey him, just once? What happened to me?

I was currently crawling in the halls, a bouquet of roses perched on my back.

"Hah, loser why are you even alive?" Someone asked. Easy for you to say when you're not the target of Titans, asshole.

Everyone else was either laughing at me or taking videos. Gods, I hate them. I just kept on crawling. I was looking for the unlucky girl that got to be Hyperion's girlfriend for 100 days.

After what felt like eternity, I finally reached class four.

When I entered, two girls could be seen, sitting on a couple of desks. I saw Hyperion's girlfriend, because she was, and I quote 'The hot piece of ass wearing a skanky skirt'. I had to hold in an eye-roll when Hyperion said that. Nice to see he's respectful of women I suppose. I don't know why he didn't just tell me her name, but I found her all the same.

"Hah, hey fatso! What's with you? Why are you crawling?" Her friend asked with a sneer.

"Why are you here?" She asked, not unkindly.

"Um, Hyperion told me to come show you something..." I stammered, not used to talking to girls.

"What is it?" She asked, while looking at me as if I was dirt. I suppose to these people, I was just dirt.

Ah, what the hell, it couldn't get much worse than this..

"Congrats on 100 days!" I shouted, while I held out the bouquet of roses. "Thunderbolt!"

Nope, I was wrong, it could get worse. Right when I was about to get in the thunderbolt position, well... I cut one. A really loud one at that. Ugh...Fuck. My. Life.

"Hey, next time don't bother. I won't say anything." She said, the pity just oozing out of her. "You're really pathetic.."

I hated my life.

-Line Break-

I was currently at home. Now, for most bullied people, it would be sanctuary, a moment of reprieve from the torture of school. Not for me. The biggest bully of them all, lived in my house.

"Listen here you little shit, I'm sick and tired of you eating away my paycheck, you hear?" Gabe growled. I don't know what he was talking about. I barely ate anything at home, he never left anything after he was done.

The only reason I was this fat was because I ate as much as I could when my dad came to visit. Pair that with little to no exercise, and well... I was the result.

I rolled my eyes at that. "I don't eat anything Gabe, you probably pissed away your paycheck on gambling and beer."

He slammed his hand on the table. "That's it! I'm sick and tired of your tone! This is MY house, so you better show me some respect!"

I just stomped to my room and slammed the door shut. I leaned against it and let out a deep shuddering breath. It would be so easy, to just end it all. The only goddamn reason I haven't yet, just entered the house.

My mom. How to describe her? She was an absolute angel. She had blue eyes that sparkled and changed color in the light, a smile as warm as a quilt, and long brown hair with a few streaks of grey in it, I never thought of her as old. She also had a scent of chocolate, licorice, and everything else one would find in a candy shop. She was just the best person ever, so of course she had to have the worst luck in the world. Between me and Gabe, we weren't making her life easy. Gods, if it weren't for her, I probably would have ended it all by now. Or ran away.

"Percy, I'm home!" She announced, her voice alone giving me the strength to stand up. Kinda sad that she was the only one to call me by my name...

She came in my room and I hugged her. Gods, I wished she never married Gabe. I have no idea why she would subject herself to marriage with that monster, but it didn't matter. Not when she was hugging me and calling me by my name.

I wanted to tell her. Gods, I wanted to tell her everything. About the bullies. About Gabe. But I couldn't, I just couldn't. It would break her heart, and that was the one thing I could never do. And then she'd send me away to live with me dad for my safety. And she'd be all alone with smelly Gabe. I couldn't do that either. At least now, he was directing all of his anger at me. I can live with that.

"Okay Percy, I'm gonna get started on dinner. Study well okay?" She said. Gods, how can a woman this beautiful conceive a creature like me? "I have a surprise announcement!"

I nodded my head, plastering on a smile. "Okay..."

-Line Break-

I was doing some research on my computer, when I saw my dad sent me an email. That was weird. He never sends me anything. I squinted, the subject was: 'Something for you?' It was a link.

I clicked on it and gasped. It was an online application form for this art school in New York. My dad remembered I liked art? How'd he know I've always wanted to live in New York? I always assumed he forgot about me the moment he left Washington. It was tempting, really tempting to just fill it in and live in New York in the dorms.

I'd be far away from this place! Far away from the Titans. From Gabe. From mom... Oh man, I can't go. I can't leave my mom alone with that monster! I sighed, ready to delete it and just call my dad to thank him for the offer when my mom shouted saying it was time to eat.

We were all eating quietly, well... My mom and I were anyway, Gabe was scarfing down everything he could get his greedy little hands on.

My mom frowned at him before clearing her throat. "So, I have an announcement to make."

Gabe looked at for a second, burped and went back down to scarf his food. Disgusting. "What is it mom?" I asked excitedly, interested in what she has to say.

"My book got published! They want me to travel the world and promote it!" She announced excitedly.

"Oh my gods, that's awesome!" I exclaimed. "If anyone deserves this mom, it's you!"

"Wait. What?" Gabe frowned, finally filling the seemingly bottomless pit that was his stomach. "No."

My mom frowned. "Excuse me?"

"No. You can't." He said, with narrowed eyes. "You can't do this. I forbid it."

"You _forbid_ it?" My mom repeated incredulously.

"Yes. As your husband I forbid it! I don't want you whoring all over the world!" He shouted. "Who's gonna make me food huh?" What a fucking asshole. I was ready to defend my mom, because no one and I mean no one gets away with calling my mom a fucking whore.

But then a miracle happened. My mom didn't back down, oh no no no, she got mad and stood up for herself.

"You can't tell me what I can and can't do, Gabriel!" My mom shouted back. "And I am not going to 'whore' around the world! How dare you?"

"Fucking selfish is what you are! What about the boy huh? You expect ME to take care of him?!" He fumed.

I glared at him. I stood up, ready to do something, anything when my mom spoke up.

"Actually, Gabriel, it's all already taken care of. He won't be your problem because he'll be attending a new school in New York. And while we're on the subject of living situations, I'm done. I'm sick and tired of you and your attitude." She barked with a scathing tone.

Gabe narrowed his eyes and stood up. He walked towards her and said, "You bitch." before slapping her.

I only saw red. I tackled him and started punching him as hard as I could, but none of my punches landed correctly.

"You asshole! You said you wouldn't do anything to my mom if I kept quiet and took it!" I roared.

He just pushed me off of him and started kicking me. "Yeah so what? What's a weak shit like you gonna do about it, huh?"

My mom pushed him away, her gaze murderous. She was livid. "Have you been hitting my son?" She asked, in quiet indignant tone.

He didn't need the answer though, you could see it in his eyes. "Percy, go to your room." She ordered. I hesitated, I didn't want to leave her alone with him.

She looked at me and her gaze softened. "Trust me."

"Okay." I said, ready to come racing out at the slightest sound of trouble.

-Line Break-

I was currently sitting against the door, listening to their argument. My mom was shouting curses at him, and damn... I didn't know she knew those words if I'm honest with you. She was really going at it, tearing Gabe a new one. Gabe shouted back, of course, but so far, I didn't hear anything too alarming.

After a while, I grabbed my laptop and went back to sit against the door. I filled in the application and sent it in, happy that I didn't have to worry about my mom, and for what feels like forever, happy for the future ahead of me. I heard the door slam loudly.

Something didn't sound right. I realized it was peaceful, and quiet. Too quiet. I gasped, and stood up quickly, alarmed and scared that that bastard did something to my mom. Before I could run out and check, someone opened my door.

It was my mom. Her cheek was rapidly becoming red from earlier, but for the rest it didn't seem like he struck her. Then again, he usually targets places you can't see... She smiled at me reassuringly and sat on my bed.

I frowned at her. "Mom... What happened? Did he hurt you?"

She just shook her head and patted the space beside her. "Sit Percy, we have to discuss some things."

"Where's Gabe?"

She pursed her lips. "He went out. Probably to the bar."

I crinkled my nose. Yeah, that sounds about right. I sat down beside her.

"Gabriel and I are... getting a divorce." Oh, Glory Hallelujah, this day just keeps getting better and better." We have couple of disagreements so we both think it's for the best."

I nodded my head, doing my best to hold in my happy dance. I cleared my throat. "Oh, well, I think it's for the best mom. I completely support you, 100%!"

She stroked my head and said in a soothing voice "I'm so sorry Percy. For everything."

I just shook my head. "Don't worry about it mom, seriously."

"Did he hurt you often?" She asked with a worried tone.

I hesitated. I wanted to tell. Gods, I really did. But she'd blame herself for my weaknesses. I hated the thought of her beating herself up over...this. So, I shook my head. "Don't worry mom, it was just once or twice. I'm fine. I promise."

"How's everything at school? You sure you want to leave behind all your friends?" I stiffened. Friends? What friends? I thought about the Titans, about Hyperion, Kronos. I thought about the teachers that turned a blind eye whenever they beat me up. No. I won't miss them. Not even a little bit.

I cleared my throat. "No mom, don't worry... They'll uhh, they'll understand."

My tone must've been off because she frowned at me but decided not to push it. Thank gods. "Okay... But Percy, you can tell me anything, you know, that right?"

"Yeah mom, don't worry. I know." I said reassuringly. "Thank you for everything you've done for me."

-Line break-

I woke up, feeling like a king. Granted I still had to go to school, and get bullied, but. Things are looking up. I just have to survive this torture for a little while, and then I'll be getting a fresh start.

Just a little while longer. I clung on to that thought when I entered the gates of hell, also known as high school. I sighed. This was gonna be a long day.

"Piggyyy." A voice whispered, giving me the chills. A very long day indeed. "Piggyy."

It was coming from a dark corner, at the side of the school under this small roof. Usually people go there when it was raining, for protection. For me though? That place was where I got beaten up the most. It offered me little to no protection at all... Frankly, I'd take my chances with the rain.

I suppose that's just me though. Ah well, best not to let my 'master' waiting. I rolled my eyes at that thought. Just a little longer.

"Piggy." Kronos called out.

"Do the running pig mode. Now!" Hyperion commanded. Geez, who died and made _you_ boss? Sigh. Nothing to it. Just a little longer

Kronos started counting down from five. I ran as quick as I could while making 'oink' noises, desperate to reach them before Kronos was done counting.

Made it. Barely. I was panting, not used to any kind of physical exercise.

"Lose some weight. You look to sluggish." Kronos taunted. Look in the mirror. He was even bigger than me, in every kind of way. The problem was, he was also stronger than me. And boy did he let me know it.

He put his arm around me shoulders. "First class is P.E. Right?"

"Yeah."

"Get it ready for me." He ordered. Kronos always wore my P.E. Uniform. I don't know why either in case you were wondering. I told my mom that I lost it and she bought me another one. I felt awful about that.

"I'll put it on your desk."

-Line Break-

"Head!" Kronos shouted after kicking the soccer ball my way.

Ah shit.

I ducked, because well... Reflexes. It slammed the wall. Hard. Fucking hell, if that had hit me...

"Oh. He avoided it." Kronos said with narrowed eyes. I gulped, crap.

"Ha, you bet ten dollars on it." Hyperion cackled. Oh, I am so dead meat.

"Hey!" Kronos shouted with narrowed eyes. "I told you to let it hit you, didn't I? Now I have to pay ten dollars!" Dude, how could I just stand there? I'm not insane! Gods, how I wanted to shout that at them. But I didn't. I stayed quiet. Just a little longer.

"Hoo hoo, it's my turn." Oh shit. Iapetus. Captain of the goddamn soccer team. Of course, he'd join in. He was one of them after all.

He got ready to shoot, and I swear I saw my life flash by. Damn... What a shitty life I've lived so far. Why am I so pathetic?

The ball flew by quickly and in that moment, I thought I could die. So instinctively, I dropped down, but I guess he saw that coming. The ball curved down, towards my face. I don't know how he did that either...

It hit me. Straight on my nose. Want to hear something really pathetic? The second the ball hit my face, I wasn't worried about the pain, oh no, what I was worried about was Kronos losing money. I'm so screwed.

"Piggy." Kronos growled. He grabbed me in a head lock. "So, it's that easy to avoid my shot huh?

"So... Sorry." I stuttered. "I'll... I'll pay it for you!" I said in pain, while he was squeezing my head so hard, I thought it would pop.

"What?"

"Erm, well... since you lost the money because of me..." Guess I'll just skip lunch today... Maybe I could find a quiet place and draw.

He slapped me first, then he grabbed my shirt and dragged me towards his face. "You dare pity me?" He growled before throwing me away from him. He kept on slapping my face, I was forced to look left and right.

"You goddamn jerks!" A familiar voice roared.

Oh.

Oh no.

There was my mom. And she looked mad. Really mad.

She kneeled beside me and checked my face. "Percy, are you okay?" What is she doing here?

"M… Mom..."

She turned towards Kronos, her gaze murderous. "You punk! Why were you hitting my Percy?!" She reprimanded them. I've gotta admit, it's the first time I saw the Titans look this uncomfortable. They were looking down, mumbling and shuffling their feet and everything.

She turned back towards me and grabbed my face, inspecting it. "Oh gods! You've got a mark!"

"M... Mom..." I wanted her to go. I don't know what the Titans might do to her, and I can't protect her. I wasn't strong enough.

Everyone around me was whispering, making fun of the fact that my mom showed up, but I didn't care. All I wanted was my mom to be safe.

"Ma'am, we were just playing a game." Kronos mumbled.

Boy, that set her off big time. She looked livid. "A game?! You call _slapping_ someone a game?! You little punk!" She roared while swatting at him.

Oh shit. I stood up quickly. I have to protect her! "Mom."

"Let's go see the homeroom teacher! How dare you do that to Percy?! What's your name!"

"Mom, I said stop."

She stopped and looked at me. "Percy?"

I grabbed her in a bear hug and whispered "I'll be fine. Get out of here. Please, they might hurt you too."

She shook her head. "Percy!"

I pleaded with my eyes, desperate to get her to safety.

"We're going home."

I blinked. "What?"

"We're going home, **right now**." Well I'm not saying no to that.

I looked back at the Titans. Their eyes promised death. Yep, definitely time to go home now.

I nodded my head. "Okay. Okay, let me go grab my stuff and we can go."

-Line Break-

"How long?"

I hesitated.

"Percy, how long?"

"Not that long, I promise." I lied. I must be losing my touch, because she just narrowed her eyes.

"Percy, the truth."

I sighed. "Ever since high school started." I mumbled quietly.

"Percy! Two years? Why didn't you say anything?!"

"I... I didn't to be a burden to you! I know you had to marry Gabe to make ends meet, and me constantly switching elementary schools didn't help! I didn't want to keep burdening you! I know you'd have made me switch high schools and I didn't want you to have extra worries, because of _me_! "

"Oh, Percy... You were never a burden to me." she said, hugging me. "I love you. I would do anything for you."

"I didn't want to make things harder for you." I mumbled.

"That's sweet of you Percy, but that's not your job, okay? That's my job. Not even a job, I want to do that." She said in a soothing tone. "I'm happiest when you are happy. So please, please, for my sake, stop trying to carry the world on your shoulders."

I nodded. "Okay mom, I'll do my best."

"Good. Now pack up your stuff." she said.

"What?"

"You're going to New York. Right now."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I thought I would transfer next semester." There was still a week of school left for this semester.

She pursed her lips. "There was a change of plans. Your father and I thought it was best for you to start as soon as possible."

"What about my school here?"

She looked at me skeptically. "You want to stay here any longer?"

Oh hades no. But I didn't want to leave my mom. "No, but... I thought we'd have more time together!"

Her face softened. "Don't worry so much about me Percy. I'll be fine. I promise. I'm stronger than I look. And I'll come visit you whenever I can."

"Okay mom. All right. I'll go pack up my stuff." I said, running towards my room.

"Hurry." my mom shouted after me. "The plain leaves in a couple of hours."

This is it. This is it.

Oh, my gods.

Goodbye Washington, hello New York!

* * *

 **Yo, I didn't add much in case you were wondering, don't worry! I just did a couple of touch ups, fixed a couple of errors here and there ;)**

 **X(::)X(::)**

 **Pencilvester**


	2. My life changes forever

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, or the concept/idea for the story. It is based on the webtoon Lookism, by Taejoon Park, which I heavily recommend you go check out!**

 **Hey guys, how ya been? Sorry it took so long to update, exams are really killing me atm, among other things. Don't worry though, I should have a little more free time in February, so the updates should be more consistent. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, sorry :(**

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When I arrived, I was surprised that my dad, Poseidon, was there to welcome me. He was one of three owners of Olympic records, so he wasn't around much. According to my mom, I'd look like him some day. I love her, but there was no way a fat tub of flesh like me could _ever_ look like him. He was handsome in every sense of he word. He had a nice tan, a 5'o clock shadow that highlighted his sharp jawline, and he was fit. The only thing we had in common was the messy hair and the eyes, but you wouldn't notice it when we stood side by side, that's for sure. We both had messy black hair and intense sea green eyes that constantly changed shade. He was also _way_ taller than me. Either I was due for a growth spurt, or I was just naturally this small, which would suck.

He must've seen the surprise on my face, because he laughed and said "What? You didn't think I'd let my own son navigate through New York alone, now did you?"

I hesitated, because honestly? Yeah, I did think that. My dad and I... we weren't exactly on the best terms. I mean, I don't hate him or anything, but I barely saw him. I figured it's cause he was kind of ashamed of me. "Uhh, kind of?"

He put his arm around me. "C'mon son, I love you okay? I know I haven't been... the best father, but I do love you. Look, I'll cancel my whole day and it'll just be me and you, all right? We'll visit all the best places in New York!"

I smiled, because that sounded... Well.. Nice. "Okay dad, thanks."

He nodded. "All right, let's go to your new place first."

He helped me put my luggages in this sweet shadow black Ford Mustang GT 5.0L V8 Ti-VCT RWD with blue accents on it.

I whistled. "Damn pops, that is one sweet ride!"

He grinned at me with a glint in his eyes. "Yeah? You like it? I'll keep that in mind."

"Uh, what? Why?..Oh.. Dad, no! You're not gonna give me a car! Seriously, I mean it, I don't want a car. Please, tell me you're not gonna give me a car!...Dad?"

-Line Break-

"Uhh, dad... You just passed the school." I told him confusedly.

"Yes, I see that."

"Okay... So are you going back?"

"You don't start school till two weeks from now! Why on earth would I go back now? "

"Because you said we were gonna go to my new place...?"

"Right I did, yeah, so?"

I scratched my head. "Uhm, so why aren't we at the school? Mom said I'll be staying in the dorms?"

He waved his hand at that. "Please, you think I'd let _my_ son stay at a dormitory? No, nuh-uh, I got you a place here near the school." And then he parked his car outside this building.

"What? But I can't pay for that!"

"Which is why I'll be paying for it."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What, but...Why?"

"What do you mean why? You're my son! That's all the reason I need!"

I opened my mouth, ready to protest, but he held his hand up.

"Look, son. Your mom has been taking great care of you these past 16 years, and I feel awful that I wasn't there for the majority of them, so I wanted to... Make it up to you I guess. I know I won't be able to be around much, Zeus is really riding me at the moment about globalizing our business, so I want you to be able to live comfortably while I'm gone. Now come on, let's get your stuff into your new place."

"I... okay dad."

-Line Break-

Oh my gods. This place was amazing. It wasn't the biggest place by any means, but it was all mine. There was the kitchen on the left when you entered, a nice living room further in, 2 bathrooms and bedrooms and the wall were blue... It was a paradise to me.

"Dad... This is way too much! It must be costing you a fortune!"

He laughed at that. "Please, Percy. This is nothing! Wait till you see where I live, trust me, you'll know what a fortune looks like then."

"But.. I can't take this... I'd owe you way too much!"

He shook his head, and grabbed me by the shoulder. "Trust me Percy, you don't owe me _anything_ , okay? Just... Do well at school and don't get into any trouble... Well... Don't get into _too_ much trouble all right? I was young once too so I get it."

He must've noticed how uncomfortable I looked, because he sighed and said "Look, if it'll make you feel better, I'll just pay for the apartment and the bills all right? You can pay for your own food, and anything else you might need. And once you have more money, you can even start paying some of the bills. But, only when you have enough money, all right? How does that sound?"

I smiled at him. "It sounds absolutely perfect. Thanks dad."

He winked at me. "Don't mention in sport. But if you ever need any money, I'm only one text away. Now, let's go get the rest of your stuff, yeah? And then we'll go out for some ice cream, or maybe hotdogs, ah hell, both."

"That sounds great dad. I'd love that."

We finally finished putting all my things in the, no wait, _my_ apartment and we were just about ready to spend the day together when my dad got a phone call. Oh, oh no.

"Don't worry son, it'll just be a sec. and then we'll be eating ice cream." My dad reassured me. "Hello, Poseidon speaking."

"Uh-huh... Uh-huh... Wait, what?!... He did what?!...No, no, no I told him NOT to do anything until I get back! Fuck, all right, all right, I'm on my way, tell him NOT to do anything else."

My face fell at the disappointed look he gave me. "I'm really sorry Percy. There's this emergency at work and-"

"-you really have to go." I finished. "Yeah, hey it's okay dad. Seriously, I get it."

"I will make it up to you Percy, I promise." He tried to reassure me. I just faked a smile and nodded my head. Let's just say I'm used to him not keeping his promises by now. I've long given up on getting angry at him for that. I'm used to it.

He nodded. "All right, here," he said putting a pretty big was of cash on the counter, "This should cover you for a month or so... Go out and eat something. On me."

"Dad, that's way too much!"

He shook his head, and winked. "See it as a... housewarming present."

I smiled tightly. "Right, thanks dad."

"I'll see you around, okay Percy?"

"Yep, yep, good luck."

And then he left. I was all alone.

Even that couldn't stop me from feeling like I was on top of the world though. No one knows me here. I don't have to fear tomorrow anymore. Nothing could bring me down. I had this brand new chance to be... re-born. Like a caterpillar waiting to come out of its cocoon as a butterfly. It's my turn to be that butterfly!

...wow that was kind of lame. I can't believe I actually had that thought. I shuddered. Yep, definitely time to get out of this place and explore New York.

-Line Break-

The first thing I did, was go into a pretty fancy looking hair salon. If I wanted to become... ugh, a butterfly, I had to look the part. Man, I really wished I knew a better metaphor...

"Welcome." The hairdresser said unenthusiastically. "You uhhh, you here for a cut?"

"Um...yeah. I'm uhh... I'm here for a cut..." I stuttered out. Man, I really have to work on my people skills.

"Have a seat here...sir." He said uneasily, pointing to chair in the far dark corner. It was absolutely perfect.

"So, any ideas on what you would like?" He asked me.

"Uh.. No, not really." I stammered out.

"How about the 'two block' style?"

"What's that?"

"The sides and lower back of the hair is shaved. It's all the rage with the celebrities nowadays."

"Uh... Sure, let's go with that."

"All righty."

-Line Break-

"There, all done!" he announced.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Well... I didn't look.. that bad to be honest. I thought I looked kind of good, all things considered.

"I did my best, I hope you like it." He told me with a grin. "You uhhh.. you might feel awkward at first."

I thanked him and payed, and then I was off.

Man, this haircut really did change things. Everywhere I went, people were staring at me and whispering. I've gotta admit, it did boost my confidence a little, I was even standing up straighter.

I passed a window and looked at my reflection. I don't look that different... Do I? I don' even know anymore. I mean, I guess I look...tougher? Maybe I should start working out more though.

I felt someone's gaze on me so I turned around. There stood this admittedly beautiful African American girl, with shoulder-length curly cinnamon brown hair and gold eyes. But unlike Kronos' the golden orbs only held warmth and kindness. I wasn't attracted to her though. I mean, yeah she was beautiful, no doubt, but to be honest she felt more like family to me, as weird as it sounded.

I still blushed though, because I was hopeless around girls and women in general. Also, because I'm pretty sure she caught me flexing and making faces at myself...

I flashed her an uncomfortable smile, and it must've looked creepy because that's what her face was telling me. Ah damn. Welp, there goes all or any confidence I had in this hairstyle I guess. Or so I thought. It would get much worse later, but I digress.

"Hazel?" Someone called out to her. And out stepped this buff Asian guy, with a babyish face and brown eyes. To be kind of honest his head seemed out of place with his stout body and military haircut. "You haven't been waiting to long have you?"

"Oh, hey Frank! No, I just got here." She answered back to who I'm assuming is her boyfriend. I ship it.

He directed his gaze at me and rolled up his sleeves. "Who's this guy? You know him?"

"Nah... Let's just go." She said with an uneasy smile.

"Just a second. Why's he smiling at you?" He asked with a side glance aimed at me. I do not have a good feeling about this...

"It's nothing... Don't do this again Frank!"

"Nothing?! Let me go for a sec."

Ooh boy, here comes trouble. Maybe I should just go. Right when I was about to walk away, Frank called out to me.

"Hey! How old are you?"

"I said let's go!" Hazel insisted, but it fell on deaf ears.

I gulped, but looked him in the eyes. "Six... Sixteen.." I mumbled. Damn, he was tall and he looked kind of scary when he was mad.

"Same age! Hah!" he exclaimed, but he didn't... look happy. What a weird guy.

"Come on! Let's go!" Hazel shouted, grabbing him by his right arm.

"Fine.." He agreed reluctantly.

"You are damn lucky today, pal." He told me seriously.

"Don't be like that in public!" Hazel scolded him with a small frown.

"I won't forget your face." he threatened me. Wonderful. That's just great. My first day here and someone already wanted my head on a pike. This haircut sucked.

"Sorry." Hazel muttered uneasily at me. I just gave her a slight smile. Sympathy seemed to always come from girls. I let out a sigh and slumped agains the window. I survived at least. And then I saw it. Her purse. She forgot her purse.

I could just leave it there, act like I never saw it and probably spare myself a beating, but... She had saved me, in a way. I suppose I do owe her now... Argh, damn these values my mother taught me!

I grabbed it and sprinted after them. What the Hades? How'd they get so far away?

"Hey!" I shouted at them. They looked back and stopped when they saw me running after them. "Thanks ...gods, found ... Give ..sec... catch breath." I wheezed out. I definitely have to work out more, geez...

I might have been taking to long to catch my breath, because Frank started to look impatient. "Hey, guy, didn't I make it clear earlier? I told you not to show yourself again."

"Frank wait! Let's hear him out!" Hazel tried to reason.

"Bag... hers... forgot." I wheezed out desperately. I don't think he understood what I meant, because before I knew it he punched me on the cheek.

"Piss off!" He said protectively, placing himself between me and Hazel, who was trying to get him to stop.

All around us, people made a circle, doing nothing but gawk and/or laugh at this humiliating scene.

He grabbed me by my hair, and got ready to punch me again. Although the fist was scary, I was actually more worried about the sounds of phones recording this.

After my beating, I willed all of my strength to grab the purse behind me and placed it by the now fighting couple. I don't know if they noticed me or not, all I was focused on was getting the hell out of here, and back to my place. Attention sucked.

-Line Break-

Oh my gods... I found a video of the fight, oh who am I kidding, a video of my beating on Instagram. I wanted to die after watching it. This time, I could actually hear what people were saying while I got my ass handed to me. It had 69k likes and 17k comments. I suppose you could consider me an Instagram star now...

All of my confidence and determination that I tried so hard to get... Gone. It disappeared just like that. I don't know what I was thinking, I'm fucking garbage. There was nothing but mockery on my phone.

I looked through my contacts. There was no one I could call about this, no friends. My mom? She'd flip out and fly here, ruining her book tour, I couldn't do that to her! She worked so hard to get there!

My dad? I was afraid of what he might do to Frank. He could be a very scary man when he wanted to be.

The pizza place?... Not a bad idea actually. I should order a pizza I thought, until I saw my reflection. Never mind... I should just go to bed, it's been a long day...

And suddenly New York was tainted. What had been a fresh start, was now also tainted by this appalling loneliness.

I got under my covers and cried myself to sleep.

-Line Break-

I woke up, because I needed to pee. Badly. It was still dark out, I'd guess it was about midnight, possibly later.

I got up and headed to the bathroom. Huh, I felt a lot... lighter?

While I was peeing I wondered, was the ceiling always this...low? I guess I'm not used to this place yet. The sink looked lower too. Everything did actually.. Maybe my eyes were swollen from all the crying?

Doesn't matter I suppose, I'll just wash my hands and go get breakfast somewhere... And then I looked up.

Holy mother of gods.

How do I explain this?

My eyes weren't as swollen as I thought. They seemed perfectly fine. In fact, they were the only things about myself that I recognized at the moment.

The man staring back at me was... Perfect.

 _I_ was so shocked _I_ couldn't make a sound, it was like someone pressed pause.

My hair was still jet black and disheveled, but it framed this face with high cheek bones, a sharp jawline, the same sea green eyes that somehow looked brighter, more dazzling framed by these long eyelashes, and _I_ was tanned like my dad. And my body... _I_ was naked... Oh my gods... _I_ was fit. My pecs were well defined, my abs, my gods there were actually _**six**_ of them... _This_ wasn't me.

 _I_ took a step back, and slipped on the bathroom mat and fell into my room. What is this? What is with my body? Was this a dream? But... It hurt when _I_ fell..

Confusion and doubt poured in suddenly. What should _I_ do? Call the police? 911? Nah, maybe first mom!

While dealing with the panic alone, _I_ saw something even more shocking in my bed.

It was... Me?

There was a 'me' still sleeping soundly.

... What the fuck?! There was no mistaking it. There I was, sleeping in front of... _me_? _I_ looked at myself in the mirror in my bedroom. This handsome dude was definitely _me_... But, that body sleeping in my bed was also absolutely me!... What the fuck?!

 _I_ felt my torso, it was pulsating, these toned muscles were so vivid and alive... _I_ had a heartbeat... This wasn't a dream... This was real life.

 _I_ stared at myself on the bed, and I had this feeling of...horror. _I_ wasn't mad, and _I_ certainly wasn't dead.

 _I_ grabbed my phone and tried to find something, **anything**... But there was no information online...

Should _I_ call the police? Mom? And then _I_ had a chilling thought.

If _I_ called the police or hospital... It would make things much worse... They'd want to examine my body, do experiments on me... _I_ shuddered. Definitely not the police or the hospital.

And mom... She has so much on her plate right now... Better not tell her for now.

 _I_ guess there's only one person who can help me solve this... Me _. I_ should try waking me up, _I_ would probably listen to myself. This was so weird and confusing.

 _I_ started shaking my uhh, my other body _I_ guess, saying "Hey... Excuse _me_ , um excuse _me_ , please wake up." Man, why was _I_ speaking so formally to myself?

 _I_ started shaking me harder and harder, the volume of my voice increasing. Ugh, why wasn't _I_ waking up?!

 _I_ slapped myself and shouted "Hey!"

And then... I woke up. What's this? I looked at my hands, they were chubby and pale again. It was my original body! Was it all a dream!? But it felt so... lifelike. I felt pretty tired though, and I had to pee. It was pretty easy to see it as just a dream though.

Too bad... It was kind of nice not to be, well, **me** for a while... Now that I've accepted it as a dream, I kind of felt sorry it was just a dream... Ah well. Probably for the best. Don't want to make things too complicated here in New York. I better go to the bathroom.

I bumped into something on the ground, I looked down and there it was...There _I_ was... The body from earlier... What. The. Fuck?! So... It wasn't a dream?! Oh, oh shit.

Was that me? This doesn't... Seem like a dream... That feeling of horror was back, full force.

I started shaking my other body, saying "Excuse me. Hey."

Maybe it was because I'd done it once, it was easier to do again. I slapped myself and shouted "Hey!"

And then _I_ woke up, staring at my old body again. _I_ don't know why, but _I_ was shocked by this. _I_ woke up in the other body!

We, no wait, I repeated this cycle for the rest of the night.

-Line Break-

People say humans are adaptive creatures. I suppose that's true, because it just took me a few days to accept this impractical reality.

 _I_ have no idea why this body was created, but _I_ do know _I_ can't tell anyone. If _I_ did, they might get into trouble because of _me_. Hunted down and tortured or something by the government, or scientists or something else...

 _I_ 've learned a lot about my bodies though. If _I_ fall asleep, _I_ wake up in the other body. When one body is awake, the other one sleeps. And if the awake body fall asleep dead tired, I wake up in the other body that was sleeping, feeling refreshed and well rested.

I have learned four things about this situation over the vacation:

The sleeping body won't wake by itself. No matter how long I waited, the other body wouldn't wake up. I have to **fall asleep** to change bodies.

If I force myself to wake up, the other body automatically falls asleep.

The other sleeping body feels hunger and needs to fo to the bathroom too, since it's actually alive. It works just like any other body would I guess. Which means, I can't let one body sleep longer than the other, and vice versa. I needed a good sleep schedule for my health, so I decided to change bodies every 12 hours.

My consciousness was active 24/7. Seriously. When I change to the sleeping body, my brain becomes well-rested and refreshed.

That being said, there was still a lot of things I didn't know about... my situation. If I killed one body, would only one body remain? I wasn't brave enough to try though. There was no guarantee of survival.

Time flew by fast, and before I knew it, it was the day before my first day of the new school.

I was totally freaking out. It was tomorrow! I mean, I guess I had to go to school, but no one would understand my situation... I was currently in my old body, and I thought about my past experiences in school... I made a decision.

-Line Break-

I looked at the gates of my new school with apprehension. I sighed, I have to go in. I know I do... I just... What if nothing was different? What if I was bullied? Again? What if I was the target of yet another gang? What if couldn't make any friends again? What if- I shook my head. I could stand here all day thinking up what ifs, but things are different now. _I'm_ different now. I tightened the blue tie of my school uniform, took a deep breath, and walked toward... the Goode art school..? Ha, nice name. I grinned at that.

Everyone was staring at me. I didn't like it. At all. I thought about the last time people were staring at me and whispering. It always ended with a beating. Why couldn't I be normal? That's all I ever wanted...

I accidentally bumped into this guy who was staring at his reflection. I get you dude, I get you.

"Ah, sorry about that." I muttered in my surprisingly deep voice. Seriously, this body had a deep, almost melodious, voice. The weird thing? When I woke up in my old body, I still had the same deep, almost melodious, voice. Then again... Maybe my voice was always like this? I can't even remember anymore to be honest...

"Hey, watch where you're going!" He snapped, turning around to look at me.

"I'm really sorry." I said earnestly. This body was just so light...

When he looked at me, he paled.

"Uhh... Are you okay?" I said, my eyebrows furrowed. Did I hurt him?

He just silently gawked at me. Ookay then... Imma just... move on.

It's so weird. With this higher line of sight, the world looked so tiny.

Everywhere around me, people gawked and gasped when I passed them. I felt really uncomfortable... Will I do well here? I hope so.

Further away from me 2 girls were whispering.

"Hey, hey, did you see him?" One whispered.

"Wow. Just, wow. I'm gonna run ahead, so shout my name okay?" The other one whispered back.

I shook my head, it was none of my business. I just couldn't believe the day would come where I would wear this size of clothing..

Suddenly a girl ran past me. Huh, she must be in a hurry.

"Hey, Lacy!" A girl shouted behind me, and the running girl, Lacy, stopped and turned around.

"Ah, yes?" She said, glancing at me? Nah, probably at someone behind me. And then she blushed and kept staring. Girls are weird.

I hope no one bullies me, was all I could think about at the moment. I wonder where I had to go to get my schedule? Glad I came earlier, I have no idea where I'm going.

-Line Break-

I was currently staring at the door of my classroom. Fashion design. I know what you were thinking, Percy why on earth would you sign up for the fashion department? Wouldn't you rather go to a more artistic department? Well, yeah that would make more sense, but whenever I would draw it was always people. And drawing clothes fascinated me. Combining patterns, and colors. Thinking about all of this would always distract me from whatever hell I was in, just because it just required so much thought. I dreamed of one day making my mom the clothes she deserved to wear.

"The teacher is here." someone shouted in the classroom. I gulped, it was almost showtime.

"Quiet!" he shouted. "Students, we have a new transfer student."

"A transfer?" someone asked.

"At our school?" someone else added. "A guy or a girl?"

"Come on in." The teacher, Mr. Blofis, commanded. I took a deep breath, and entered.

Aaaand I got the same reaction as I did when I entered the school gates. Silence. Everyone's jaws dropped and they were gawking at me. Great, just great. All I wanted was to survive this year, unnoticed. Guess that plan flew out of the window.

I cleared my throat. "Um.. Hey, I'm Percy Jackson." I started, hopefully not sweating as much as I feared, "Nice to meet you all."

Ugh, why were they all just... staring at me? Whatever, just... don't make eye contact. I reminded myself.

Mr. Blofis cleared his throat, obviously not used to the silence that ensued when I came in. "Uhh, okay Percy. Nice to meet you too, right class? You can take that empty seat there." And he pointed to this empty desk.

My appearance seemed to have caused a stir in the class... there was one group whispering and blushing at me mostly girls, while another group looked at me... kind of cautiously? Wonder why. These people were weird, that's for sure.

I walked over to my new desk and took deep breaths. All right, this is my first day! I gotta start this semester out right! I have to get close with whoever's sitting next to me first. That seemed like a good start. Last year was a nightmare.

I sat down, and smiled hopefully in a friendly way at my neighbor and said "Hey."

And then I saw who it was. Oh fates, why must you be so cruel to me?

It was him! The guy who beat me up! What was his name again?... Oh yeah, Frank!

"Yeah, hi." he muttered, opening his eyes slightly, before closing them again. Welp, that plan also flew out of the window... Maybe I should just stop making plans...

All around me people were whispering. This sucks, things went wrong from day one.

"Hey." someone said to me. I looked to my left and I saw this gorgeous girl with long curly blond hair, kind of like a princess. She kind of looked like a typical California girl, except her stormy grey eyes ruined the image. Or improved it, if you asked me. Her eyes looked calculating, like she was analyzing me, as if she was thinking of the best way to take me down in a fight... I shuddered. She had tanned skin, a great figure, she looked very athletic. She could definitely take me down in a fight. "Percy? Hi, I'm Annabeth."

I gave her what I hoped was a friendly smile, and squirmed in my seat. "Uh.. Hi Annabeth.. Nice to meet you."

She gave me this dazzling smile, showing off her pearly whites, and my heart fluttered. I really hoped my face wasn't as red as it felt. I was really uncomfortable though. I mean, don't get me wrong, any other day, I'd be getting rejected by this beautiful girl by now. I'd be ecstatic! But everyone was staring at our interaction, and I felt like some animal at the zoo. The only time everyone stared at me like this, was when I was getting beaten up, about to get beaten up or already beaten up. Let's just say attention? Not for me.

And right now, I seemed to have caught everyone's attention...

"Hey Annabeth, how about you leave the poor kid alone." Frank suddenly spoke up, his eyes still closed.. "He just got here and everyone's already undressing him with their eyes."

I looked at him, surprised he would stand up for me like that... I certainly didn't expect him to notice how uncomfortable I looked.

"I was just being friendly." She said defensively.

He opened his eyes again and said "Yeah? Well, you can be friendly some other time, when he isn't being gawked at by everyone around him on his first day here."

Annabeth opened her mouth, no doubt ready to argue, but I guess she must've seen how everyone was staring at us, and how uncomfortable I looked because she just nodded her head, smiled at me and said "Yeah, all right. It was nice meeting you Percy, I'll see you around."

I gave her a genuine smile and said "Nice to meet you too Annabeth."

I turned to Frank, ready to thank him, but he was looking behind him, at this girl that looked oddly familiar. Oh, yeah, that was that girl he was with that day... Hazel!

She was currently staring at me, well more like frowning, as if she was trying to place where she knew me from. I don't know what Frank was seeing because when he turned back to me, he was glaring daggers at me and...growling? Something felt off.

I started sweating.

One thing's for sure...

This would be an interesting semester.

* * *

 **Yo, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it, I know I enjoyed writing it :D Anyhow, let me know what you guys thought! Loved it? Hated it? Got any ideas? Let me know ;)**

 **On to the reviews:**

 **To ImHellaUgly: Dude, me too! I love that webtoon! Those fastpasses tho, both a blessing and a curse, amiright? XD**

 **To Guest: Aw, thanks man! :)**

 **To more-like-reyna: Lol, me too tbh, idk what I'm doing. Anyhow, glad you liked it.**

 **All right, that's all of em! I wish you guys a great life and uhhh...**

 **I guess I'll see you in the next one!**

 **X(::)X(::)**

 **Pencilvester**

 **Ps: I didn't add anything, well I didn't add too much, I was doing a couple of touch ups, fixing the mistakes I missed when I reread this the first time, and making sure the continuity wasn't screwed up. Sorry if it confused you guys hehe.**


	3. I get in a fight

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, or the characters or the story concept/idea.**

 **Welp, the new chapter came a lot sooner than I thought it would. I'm just as surprised as you are, tbh. I still don't know when the next chapter will come out, but I'll do my best to finish one by next week. No promises though. Anyhow, enjoy!**

* * *

There was something special about my high school.

I mean, yeah okay, it was an art school, but it also had another focus. This school focused on more practical training and work experience programs, instead of going to college. Don't get me wrong, you could still go to college after graduation, but you didn't _have to_ with a diploma from this high school. You could get a job after graduation.

There were 8 departments if I'm not mistaken, and each department had some kind of freedom, but the faculty didn't reinforce them too hard.

The Cooking department, they were allowed to eat during any class and also sell whatever they cooked on school grounds.

The Practical Music department, more often than not, you'd find them with an instrument, and they were allowed to practice concerts on school grounds.

The Vocal & Dance department, they were allowed to dance or sing wherever they wanted on school grounds, so long as it didn't bother the other departments. They also didn't have to wear the school uniform on days they had to perform.

The Beauty department, they were allowed to dye their hair, have visible tattoos and/or piercings, not to mention if they wanted to wear extreme make up, they could.

The Physical Education department, they were allowed to bring their own kind of gym clothing, and had free access to the gym on school grounds, even during vacations.

The Comics & Animation department, they had access to the computer rooms whenever they wanted, and they were allowed to bring whatever comics and/or movies to school.

The Architecture & Interior Design department, they were allowed to take field-trips to the city any time they needed to, for inspiration I guess. Plus, they get to go to awesome cities during vacations if they organized it themselves.

The Fashion, Clothing Design department, they were allowed to alter their uniforms as much as they wanted, not to mention go to fashion shows.

I've noticed, that kind of freedom seemed to be a nightmare for other students of regular high schools. The school was also known for having had a lot of celebrities, actors and actresses, models, musicians and popular idols as students.

Each department also had... a champion. Someone who represented the department, and yes, was good at fighting. Surprisingly, there were a lot of good fighters here, and in different styles too. Boxing, karate, judo, tae kwando, Krav Maga, you name it. I am not gonna lie, I definitely didn't want to meet any of them. Someone who knew 10 different ways to beat me up? Yeah, no thanks, Frank already didn't like me and he was one of them, I learned. I'll just do my best to stay under their radar.

The bell rang, meaning only one thing at the moment.

"Lunch time!" Someone bellowed. I was kind of dreading this... I mean, where was I gonna sit? Frank didn't seem all that welcoming, and I don't know if Annabeth would want to sit with me...

I sighed. Maybe I could skip it? Right at that moment, my stomach grumbled. Loudly. Damn, guess not.

I was staring at the doors of the cafeteria, my hands refusing to cooperate. I gulped. What if- no. I will not go down that rabbit hole. Again.

I took a deep breath, and entered.

-Line Break-

"So Percy, what kind of side dishes do you like?" Annabeth asked me. We were currently standing in the line for the cashier, and I was relieved. Annabeth found me. She wanted to sit with me. That's right. **Me.** I might survive this ordeal after all.

Everyone was still staring at us though. Was it me? Or Annabeth?

"Uh, I guess fries, onion rings, anything greasy." I answered back, looking down. I only have to get my own food. I don't have to serve others anymore. Sometimes I needed to remind myself, I wasn't in my old school anymore. Everything was different.

We payed for our food and sat down. I was just about to start eating, when I felt someone stand behind me. "Hey newbie!" someone said.

I turned around, and saw a group of 3 tough looking guys standing there. Oh man, not again.

"We need to talk after lunch." The biggest one told me. Gods, was it me? What about me attracted bullies? Was it the haircut? My eyes? I really have to figure it out. And change it.

I gulped and nodded.

Lunch went by way too quickly if you ask me, because before I knew it, it was time to meet those 3 guys behind the school.

I was sweating bullets. I mean, I was familiar with this situation, of course. I got beaten up in places like these _all the time_.

"So, your name's Percy?" The biggest guy said, let's call him Thug 1. Man, he looked kind of scary. Not as scary as Smelly Gabe or Kronos, but still pretty scary. Man, I hope they don't ruin my uniform, I spent all my remaining money on it... I nodded reluctantly.

And then he offered me a cigaret. What?

"So, where you from?" He asked me with, what I guess was a friendly smile?

"You're freaking tall." The guy said behind him. Let's call him Thug 2.

"You... hehe.. Got into trouble huh? That's why you must've transferred to this school, right?" Thug 1 asked me, his hand still outstretched, the packet of cigarets staring back at me.

"Look at your shoulders! You must work out." Thug 3, that so far just stood silently smoking, commented suddenly.

They didn't let me speak really, mostly just commenting stuff. I mean, I don't mind, it's a lot better than getting beaten up, but it was... odd to say the least.

"You must be a ladykiller!" Thug 1 said. "Hook me up sometime, eh big guy."

What should I do? I've never been in _this_ situation before... If I say I can't smoke, they'll probably think I'm a wuss or something and beat me up...OH, I know!

"Uh, actually I quit smoking." I told them. They seemed amazed at that.

"And..." I added, "I don't know any girls."

They all gasped and paled, I could actually see them sweating too. They kind of seemed, scared? Nah that can't be right. Anyhow, I sure as hell wasn't gonna stay and find out.

"If that's all, I'm out." I said seriously, walking away as fast as I could. Thank god, I survived, even with my face freezing up from the nerves.

-Line Break-

After lunch, I did my best to fight off the sleepiness, but I guess I failed because before I knew it I woke up in my old body. Oh... Oh shit.

I must have fallen asleep at school since that body couldn't sleep for that long! I tossed and turned all night long, worrying about going to school with my new body...

I gotta get back to that body!... But, I'm not sure if I can even fall asleep when I've slept all day! In order to switch bodies, I have to sleep by my own efforts or... someone has to wake me up.

Oh man, I am so screwed, I can't fall asleep! Come on! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

And suddenly, I woke up. "Fuck!" I shouted. In class. Oh my gods.. I just swore, loudly, in class. Oh... Son of a bitch. Really fates? Really?

I saw Annabeth stare at me, shocked. Oh my gods... She must've been the one to wake me up!

People were murmuring around us. "What the..?"

"Are they fighting?"

"Did he just swear?"

I turned beet-red. "Oh my gods Annabeth, I'm so sorry! I was just... A dream and.." I stuttered out.

Beside me Frank laughed and slapped me on the back. "Nice one dude. Way to stand up for yourself!"

"Wait, you don't understand! I was just-"

"It's okay dude. A guy's gotta do, what a guy's gotta do."

Annabeth smiled at me. "It's okay Percy, I probably shouldn't have woken you up."

I frowned at everyone.

At my old school everyone would be laughing at me by now...

These people were weird.

But... It was kind of nice.

-Line Break-

AT A CONVENIENCE STORE

"That'll be 70 cents. You need a bag?" I said, back in my old body.

"Nope."

"Goodbye." I said. Rude customer. Didn't even say thank you, rude. Eh whatever. I got a night job at a convenience store.

FLASHBACK: YESTERDAY AFTER SCHOOL

 _I was walking back home, when I saw this sign on the door of a convenience store:_

 _HIRING PART TIME_

 _NIGHTS_

 _9PM – 7AM_

 _WAGES NEGOTIABLE_

 _This is perfect! I've gotta try to get this job._

 _I entered the store._

" _Excuse me, are you still hiring for the night shift?" I asked._

 _The store manager looked up and said "Oh, helloooo oh wow."_

" _The sign on the door, it said you were looking for a part-timer? I've never really worked at a convenience store before..Do you need a resume? Can a first-timer..."_

" _You're hired." He stated quickly._

 _I blinked. "...Sorry?"_

" _Can you start right away?"_

" _Um..."_

" _How much are you looking to earn?"_

" _Uh, that is.."_

" _I'll give you the max."_

 _Wow, this guy's pretty cool! But, no way could I work in my new body._

" _No, I mean not for me, for a friend of mine."_

" _What!?" He shouted, already holding a staff uniform._

 _-Line Break-_

 _The store manager looked a lot less friendly than he did when I came in my other body..._

" _You?" He said incredulously. "You're the friend?"_

" _Yes..." I mumbled._

" _Sorry, but this won't work. I don't hire high schoolers."_

" _Huh? But... My friend said I can-.." I protested._

" _Come to think of it, students don't have a clue about the names of cigarets brands. There are so many brand names to memorize.." He explained. Oh, that's the only thing that's stopping me from being hired?_

" _Philip Morris. Camel. Lucky Strike. Newport. Pall Mall. Dunhill. Winston. L &M. Kool." I listed off all the brand names I knew. I guess having been a proficient cigaret servant for the Titans did pay off somehow._

END FLASHBACK

I managed to get the job, but... why was the salary difference so big? I have two bodies, which means, I need to expenses for two people. My new body was currently sleeping.

My new body was active from 8am till 8pm, for school and my old body was active from 8pm till 8am, working. That way I would be living 12 hours per body, to protect each's health. Why did this happen to me? What if my new body disappeared? If only this body would go...

The daytime is like a beautiful dream, but at night I come back to the cold reality. And I guess my reality is still technically like a dream, a nightmare.

The sound of the bell going off, broke me from my musings. New customers.

"Welcome. " I said in a friendly tone, and then I saw who my new customers were. Thug 1, 2 and 3!

"Give me 4 packs of Marlboro red." Thug 1 commanded. They were my classmates, so of course I knew they weren't old enough to be buying cigarets. What should I do? I can't sell them smokes! I could get fired!

"Uh, can I see your ID please?"

"Heh? Jeez, all right, here you go." And then he handed me an ID for a Daniel Pickipsy, born in '84. Where the hell did he get this old guys ID from?

"Uh, that doesn't look like you..."

"Huh? I've gained weight.. Okay?"

I sighed. I've gotta keep this job, no matter what. "No, sorry... I'm not allowed to sell you cigarets."

"This is my ID!"

"I don't think so."

"What?!"

"The jig is up." Thug 2 muttered.

"Let's just get out of here.." Thug 3 mumbled.

"Hold on." Thug 1 said. "How old are you then, huh?" He asked me.

I started sweating. "What? Why?"

I can't get fired, I just can't!

"Hey!" Someone shouted, entering the store. "Let's just go somewhere else! Stop messing around!" Oh my gods, it was Frank. Of course it was, I mean New York was a pretty big place, so of course I'd keep running into the same guy, over and over.

He squinted at me, as if trying to place me. Oh, no no no, please god no.

He smirked. Crap. "Well who do we have here?" He turned to the Thugs and said "Hey, guys relax. We're good here. Get a bunch of booze too hehe."

"What?" Thug 1 asked incredulously.

"You know this guy?" Thug 2 asked.

Ah crap on a cracker. I was quite in a pickle. They currently placed a lot of alcohol on the counter. What should I do? I don't want to lose this job, but I also didn't want to get beat up. Again. Sofie's choice indeed.

"Hey, how about we forgive and forget?" Frank said with a smirk. "Ring this up in honor of our truce."

And suddenly he was glaring at me. "And did I mention, I'm not gonna be paying for this?"

I gulped, but I didn't ring it up. I couldn't. Maybe I was paralyzed by the fear, or maybe it was because I was sort of standing up for myself. I guess we'll never know.

He narrowed his eyes at em. "You don't want to be reconciled?"

I shook my head. "No, it's not that, I just... I could get fired."

Behind Frank, the t+Thugs were whispering.

"Why's he in such a bad mood today?" Thug 1 whispered.

"Uh, he's usually like that." Thug 2 shot back.

"Don't you get it? Hehe.." Thug 3 started "Hazel has eyes for the new transfer student haha."

Frank stiffened. Ah crap, he must've heard that. Something tells me Frank was very uhh, protective when it came to all things Hazel. I don't even know what they were talking about. She looked more confused by me than anything else. Those Thugs kept whispering and making it worse though.

"Ohh, yeah didn't Frank ask her out, but she turned him down? Haha." Thug 1 recalled.

The other Thugs laughed.

"Right, maybe he's pissed because of that new guy!" Thug 2 proposed with a guffaw.

"Geez, they went on a date, and it's over _already_?" Thug 3 said disbelievingly.

Gods, will you guys shut up? You were all making him look angrier and angrier... He was grabbing his hair with both hands and shaking..

"Hehe, shh quiet." Thug 1 whispered.

"Yeah, he's gonna blow his stack." Thug 3 added.

I cleared my throat. "Uh, sorry, sir, but since I could get fired.."

"Hey." Frank said. "The truce is off." Wait, what?

Aaaaand then he punched me. Again. Boy, does he look mad still.

"Oh shit, he flipped!" Thug 2 shouted.

"Dude, stop!" Thug 1 shouted.

So, I got beaten up by Frank again. I mean, this time, there were actual people trying to stop him, but they kind of failed.

"We're so sorry." Thug 3 said apologetically.

"Yeah, he's got a bad temper... Whaddaya gonna do? Amirite?" Thug 2 added.

Somewhere in the back, you could hear Frank shouting 'Let go! Stop!' and 'Fuck you! What the fuck?!'

As for me? Well, we were currently in the alley beside the store, and the were making me stand with my hands behind my back and my pants and underpants down to my shoes.

Thug 2 was taking a picture of me and said "I hope you can understand, this is just insurance. If you report us, we **will** spread this photo. Got it?"

Thug 3 was giving me instructions. "Dude, head up, up. Hands back. There you go!"

I was forced to agree on forgetting the whole thing. This was stupid, as far as they know, I had no idea who they were.

Eventually they all left. At least I could rejoice in the fact that I didn't sell them any smokes or alcohol. That's... something. A small victory. I know I would've been fired on my first day if I did that.

But I can't just rely on my dad, or mom for that matter, all my life. Speaking of which, I should probably call her, it has been a while. Too long if you ask me.

"Hello? Percy? How are you? " And just like that, any pain I felt left at the sound of my mother's soothing voice. I could practically hear the smile she had on her face. The thought of my smiling mother made me smile, despite my split lip.

"Hey mom, I'm great!"

"What are you doing up this late? It must be like 10 pm there in New York!"

"Oh, uhh, just taking a walk. The night's air is really refreshing." I hated lying to my mom, but I didn't want her to worry about me.

"Amazing! I'm out for a stroll too!"

"Ha so we're on the same page then huh?"

"Haha I guess so! How's school?"

"School? Great! I'm really popular here in New York." _But only during the day_.

"I was just with a few classmates actually." _Buuut, they beat me up._

"What about you? How have you been?"

"Me? Oh Percy, I'm so happy right now!"

"Yeah? Which country are you in again? Greece right?"

"Yes! Oh Percy, we should come here together some day! It's so amazing, and I know you'd just love it here!" She gushed. And I had to smile at that. She was still thinking about me, even though she was like halfway across the world. She was simply the best mom ever.

I stood up and entered the store. "Yeah? Then we'll go there together someday. I'd love to go to Greece one day."

"Percy, do you have enough money?" She asked me, the concern oozing out of her.

"Nah, mom. I'm fine!"

"You sure? You know I could wire some money or something."

"Mom, seriously, I'm fine! You just enjoy your book tour al right? You deserve it!"

"Well okay.. But remember Percy, you don't have to carry the world on your shoulders. If you need something, anything, I'm one phone call away."

"Don't worry mom, I'll let you know when something's up."

"...All right then. I'll let you go to sleep, it's late there. I love you Percy."

"Love you too mom. Bye."

Just like that, the evening nightmare ended...

-Line Break-

And it was day again. I have returned to the dreamlike reality.

I woke up in my day body, feeling light and powerful again. I literally jumped out of bed and did a couple of squats. Huh, so this is what it's like, to be buff. It was nice, I felt like I could fly. The world looked so tiny from my vantage point.

I did my morning routine and went to the other bedroom the check on my night body. Damn, Frank really went at it this time. Still, not _the worse_ beating I got in that body I suppose.. I cleaned up my wounds, got dressed and then I was off to another day in school.

Oh joy.

-Line Break-

Ugh, people were still whispering wherever I went. Seriously, why? I just shook my head and did my best to ignore it.

"Hey, there he is."

"Damn, give me a piece of that!"

"He looks like a cartoon hero."

"Look at his figure.. That body tho."

"Dayumn."

"He must be so happy to come to school."

I wonder who they were all talking about? Not me, I hate coming to this school.. I already got beaten up... I mean, they didn't know it was me, but still...

When I entered the class in this new body I saw that those Thugs were talking about... Me.

"But then Frank beat him up!"Thug 1 shouted.

"Yeah, he totally flipped his lid." Thug 3 added enthusiastically.

"I took his picture to ensure he stays silent." Thug 2 said smugly. Fucking bastard.

Annabeth frowned. "What picture?"

"You wanna see?" Thug 3 said with a nasty chuckle.

"Guys, cut it out. You think I'm proud of hitting that pig?" Frank muttered crossly.

Annabeth saw me come in and smiled at me. "Hey Percy!"

I smiled back uneasily and nodded.

"Yo Percy, come over here! I have something funny to show you!" Thug 2 shouted, waving me over. Yeah, no thanks asshole.

I frowned, a nasty feeling in my stomach... I kind of have an idea of what they wanted to show me, but just to be sure... "What is it?"

"Yesterday, Frank beat this pig up and..." Thug 1 started, but I tuned the rest out. I know what happened, I saw it with my own eyes! Well... I felt it actually with my own body!... Other body I mean. Man, this was all still so confusing... I was broken out of my musings, at the sound of everyone laughing.

Ah, that brings back memories.

Bad ones.

"Soo, wanna see a nude pic of the piggy?" Thug 2 asked smugly. I clenched my jaw and fist, and decided to ignore them. You know, what? They weren't worth my time.

"You actually took a photo of that part?!" Annabeth asked incredulously.

"Yeah, wanna see?" Thug 2 asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"No! Gods, that's disgusting! What is the matter with you?" She answered with a scowl. Good for you Annabeth!

"Ahh, don't be coy!" Thug 1 jeered.

"Frank's punches were lightning fast though!" Thug 3 shouted suddenly.

"Dude, yeah! I couldn't even see them!" Thug 1 gushed.

Frank just sat there looking smug. "Guys, cut it out. I'm not proud of it!" Ugh, I'm sick of listening to them.

"Ugh, I really hate that." Hazel announced. Yeah, okay. I'll just listen to her and her friends convo... That's not too weird right?

"Why don't you just go out with him? He's nice to you." Her friend told her.

Hazel scowled. "He's always fighting. A while ago he invited me to a movie, but he got in a fight in the street, again!" Yeah, I remember that, vividly.

"Woah, that's crazy. Although, I guess I'm not really that shocked." Her friend said.

"What do you mean?" Hazel asked with a frown.

"You don't know? He was a rising boxer in middle school."

"Oh, yeah, I knew that! I went to middle school with him." Huh, I wonder how far back her and Frank went?

Frank looked at Hazel's direction. "Enough as a boxer, I'm not proud of using a straight punch to leave him groggy. I should've thrown a jab." He explained.

I sighed. Why did I have to sit next to him of all people? I mean, I know I had bad luck, but come on! This was so unfair.

"Hehe, come to think of it, that piggy's mom, must be a piggy too!" Thug 2 announced gleefully. Oh no you didn't. That definitely caught my attention.

"Ha, yeah pigs are born from pigs!" Thug 1 added, with a chuckle. I clenched my fist. I've gotta keep a low profile. Stay calm.

"Yooo, what if that piggy brought his mom?" Thug 3 wondered with a laugh.

"Then I'm gonna strip em both naked." Thug 2 answered back smugly.

"Dude, you are insane!" Thug 1 said with amusement dancing in his eyes. Breathe Percy, breathe. Don't attract any attention to yourself. It was getting increasingly harder to keep my calm and ignore them. My arms were shaking from how hard I was clenching my fists.

"You think she was happy giving birth to him?" Thug 3 wondered.

"I would've had an abortion!" Thug 2 shot back, all 3 of em started laughing.

Because of me, my mom was getting insulted. My mom, who does her best to provide for me. Who does her best to be nice to everyone she meets. How dare they?!

I snapped. Insult me all you want, but **no one** brings my mother into this.

I brought my fist down on my desk, making a loud sound and caught everyone's attention. I looked up, and glared at the guys who were insulting my mom and said "You guys have gone too far."

The three guys flinched and paled.

Frank looked back at Hazel and saw her stare at me in admiration, and he glared at me.

He kicked away his desk and said "Hey, you're fucking funny, you know that? Get up and come at me."

"Fight!" Someone shouted in the background. Ah crap, what the hell?!

I clenched my jaw and stood up. What I didn't know was, at that moment the news came out that there was gonna be a fight in the fashion department. Before I knew it, there was a crowd behind our class door and in our class.

Frank stood in a boxing position. Oh shit, I've been in a lot of uhhh, 'fights, but I didn't actually know _how_ to fight. Welp, this was a great moment to learn I suppose.

"Hey wuss, I told you to come at me." Frank ordered.

All around me, people were whispering.

"Why's he just standing there?"

"Is he scared?"

"Dude, were we scared for no reason?" one of the Thugs muttered. And that made me think about the things they were saying about my mother. And that made me pissed all over again.

Right when Frank was about to throw a punch, someone grabbed his arm. It was this pale guys, with shaggy black hair that covered his eyes and a pretty sick looking silver skull ring. He was dressed in all black, expensive looking clothing.

"What is Nico doing?" People muttered. Huh, Nico. Okay, reminder to self: Thank Nico.

"This is the first time I've seen him step up." Someone else muttered.

Frank looked like he was struggling to get his arm out of Nico's death grip.

"Let go!" He shouted, finally freeing his arm. And then he threw a punch at me. It was as fast as I remembered.

Ever since I was little, I got hit a lot. So, at some point, I could see the fists coming slowly. But, I was too slow. My body wouldn't move as I wanted it to.

This body however, did.

"Oh my gods! He dodged Frank's fist!" Someone exclaimed, shocked.

"Dude, how? That fist was crazy fast!"

"Amazing."

Everyone looked shocked.

Frank the most.

 **Frank's POV**

I've always been really fast.

In kindergarten I could run circles around kids twice my age.

In elementary school too, and in middle school. My dad, Mars, encouraged me to be strong, disciplined and fast. He was very strict. Any little mistake, or weakness, would result in... a sanction.

He worked me all right, he worked me hard, but it was so worth it. Look at me now.

When I entered high school, I was speedy, life was easy. I was the king, I was a champion.

But now... This new pretty boy just comes waltzing in, thinking he could hone in on Hazel?!

I've been working my butt off, trying to show her how much I loved her, but yeah sure, just cause you're handsome, go ahead and become her boyfriend. Not. I have to protect her.

This is my turf, I ain't letting that go without a fight.

If my dad found out I was weak...

I shuddered at the thought of what he might do.

I have to win this.

 **Percy's POV**

I kept on dodging his fist, but even I had to admit, he was really fast.

With each fist I dodged, Frank got madder and madder.

Eventually a fist came my way that I couldn't dodge. It was coming straight at my face. I couldn't avoid it!

Oh crap, what do I do?!

At the last second, my right arm came up, and I actually _caught his fist_. Holy shit, I almost got hit. That was way too close. It's getting harder and harder to doge...

Everyone's jaws dropped at that.

Frank looked at me in horror.

Maybe we could end it here? I looked around, people were whispering and gawking at me. And then I saw them. Those assholes that insulted my mom.

I remembered why I got so angry.

What one earth did I do wrong to them?!

This has to end. And I remembered something Kronos did once to me.

FLASHBACK

" _Gum gum...Pistol!" Kronos shouted, hitting me in the gut as hard as he could._

 _I dropped on my knees and wheezed. I couldn't breathe!_

 _Kronos was massaging his right arm, the one he used to punch me._

" _That's how you throw your first punch." He explained._

" _Impressive. He's really down, huh?" Hyperion exclaimed with glee._

" _Aim for the solar plexus for the first punch." Kronos instructed._

" _One shot, one kill."_

END FLASHBACK

I let go of Frank's hand and kept dodging his fists. And then, I thought about all of the shit he put me through. The beatings. The insults. The humiliation.

And why? Why did he do it? What did I ever do to him?!

Nothing.

There was no reason.

I made my decision.

I took Kronos' advice, and aimed for Frank's solar plexus. I hit him as hard as I could.

And he went down, just like I did.

Everyone went quiet, you could hear a pin drop in this silence.

And then all once, it was chaos.

"Holy shit! He took Frank down!"

"One punch and he was down!"

"That was insane, oh my gods!"

"No way!"

"Incredible!"

It was all a first for me.

Looking down my opponent.

"Percy, you are the man!"

"Damn dude, you must work out!"

I looked at Frank, who was still clutching his stomach and coughing. I felt bad. I knew what it was like, being on the receiving end of a punch. Was it really that hard? He must really be in pain.

"Wooh!"

"He didn't want to fight."

"Yeah, guess Frank didn't give him any choice though."

"Still, it was an awesome fight!"

This strange reaction from the crowd...

I didn't like it.

I never wanted any of this.

Frank looked up, at Hazel. He gritted his teeth. He glared at the crowd.

"Lower your eyes!" He roared. "Did you all enjoy the show, huh? I saw everyone who smiled! I will pluck your eyes out!"

All around me people were staring, gawking, whispering, but one guy... He was staring at me differently. He was skinny, and almost as pale as Nico, pale blue eyes... Everything about him seemed pale actually. What I didn't know was, he would play a **very big role** in my life later on.

For the first time in my life, someone looked at me with fear, just like I used to look at others.

What I didn't know was, the news of Frank Zhang getting beaten by the new kid with one punch, was spreading like wildfire.

By the end of the day...

Each department's champion knew my name.

* * *

BONUS SCENE:

Nico entered the guy's toilet, to well... You know...

"Let's get that dick!" Thug 1 growled.

"The transfer?" Thug 2 asked.

"But Frank was no match!" Thug 3 brought up.

"Let's come at him all once." Thug 1 proposed.

"Well.. There are 3 of us..." Thug 3 said, sounding convinced.

"Yeah, true. All right, so what's the plan?" Thug 2 wondered.

"One of us will grab him from behind, the other two take the front." Thug 1 instructed.

"Ha, wow, you have no shame." Thug 2 cackled.

"We can't let him go on like this though." Thug 3 told him.

"True, true. All right, I'm in. I'll grab him with my herculean strength!" Thug 2 exclaimed.

"I don't see it." Thug 1 deadpanned.

"Whatever. So, we doing this after school?" Thug 2 retorted.

"Deal! Let's kick his ass!" Thug 3 said with glee.

"..." Nico cleared his throat.

-Line Break-

Octavian was running quickly, towards the boy's toilet. He passed Nico on his way there.

When he entered the boy's toilet, he was surprised by the scene he was greeted by. The three guys that tormented him daily...

Beaten up.

Badly.

He looked around and wondered...

How strong was Nico actually?

END BONUS SCENE

* * *

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! This was a doozy of a chapter if you ask me. Let me know what you guys thought, I always love reading your thoughts :)**

 **On to the reviews:**

 **To more-like-reyna: Ha yeah, makes sense I thought, what with him having been bullied badly. Don't worry about Frank and Percy's friendship, it'll get better, I swear. As for Rachel, I've got some plans for her in the future, don't you worry your pretty little face ;) I don't like bitch-Rachel AUs either. She wasn't a bitch in the books because she kissed Percy? Like wtf? But, yeah back then when Percy Jackson first came out, srsly if you shipped anything but Percabeth, you were ripped to shreds.**

 **To Lillian Smith: Aww, dude thank you! As for the plot, again, I really want to _stress_ this because I don't want to take credit for this, I was reading the webtoon LOOKISM, and I thought, hey what if the characters were Percy Jackson and the gang? And voila! And dude, that book is actually in my TBR pile! Seriously! I'll check it out! Dude, true that, it is scary, but to be fair, it took Percy a couple of days to get used to it. Yeah, it has been a while since I read Percy Jackson, but even I knew Frank was a liiiittle OOC here. To be fair, he is a son of Mars, so I imagine he might have his Mars-like moments... But, I digress. I do regret some choices I made with the characters in this story, but, I've got to stay consistent. So, for now, Frank has to be well... Kind of a dick. But I swear, he gets better in later chapters. Probably. Guess we'll have to wait and see ;)**

 **To Guest: Thanks dude! :D**

 **Aiight, that was it for today! Once more, hope you guys enjoyed, and thank you to everyone that reviewed, will revies, or is currently reviewing. You guys are angels!**

 **See you in the next one!**

 **X(::)X(::)**

 **Pencilvester**

 **Ps: Again, I didn't really add anything to this chapter. I just fixed a couple of errors, maybe added a couple of things here and there for clarification and continuity, but you guys don't have to reread this chapter. I didn't really change it all that much. Once again, sorry for any possible confusion I may have caused :(**


	4. The Thugs become my friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, or the characters, or the concept/idea of this story. All props go to Rick Riordan and Taejoon Park.**

 **What up guys? Long time no see huh? XD I have seen your requests so, voila. New chapter, as fast as I could. But, I can't do this again for a while. So, try to savor this one eh? It might be a while before the next chapter comes out. I'll try to finish the next one by next week, but no promises. I've got to make up for the time I spent working on this chapter instead of studying :(**

 **But yeah, enjoy eh? ;)**

* * *

I woke up, back in my old body. I looked over to my new body, and smiled. Sleep well dude, uh, me? This was all still so confusing...

My stomach rumbled, breaking me out of my musings. Probably for the best, it was _not_ at all productive...

I was eating my dinner, err, breakfast and thought about what happened today. It kind of seemed like a dream to be honest.

It was my first time actually landing a blow! That time with Gabe didn't count, cause they never landed correctly. Or, maybe they did and I was just _that_ weak...

I shook my head at that thought.

It was also the first time I got cheers!... Although... If it was in my old body, I bet the reactions would've been vastly different I'm sure. I could already imagine what they would've whispered...

"Not cool."

"So cruel!"

"Ugh, what an ogre."

"Such a _pig_!"

Then again, I'd have no chance of actually winning in the first place, so I guess that's all just moot. I walked to the convenience store, my head filled with thoughts.

-Line Break-

Should I lose weight? Probably. No, wait scratch that. I definitely should lose weight. Now that I actually know what it's like to be fit, I kind of want that feeling all the time.

I am busy earning a living with this body though... Never mind that, a customer just came in.

"Welcome." I said in a friendly manner.

"Uh, hi." He muttered. He was looking at me funny...

"That'll be 70 cents."

"Here." He was still looking at me weirdly..

"Bye!"

-Line Break-

"That'll be 10 dollars ma'm." I said, doing my best to sound friendly. Her disgusted expression didn't help though.

"You uh, you need a bag?" I asked uneasily. My current customer was this tall guy that kind of reminded me of a Roman statue, with the perfect features and bulging muscles.. He had close cropped blond hair, sky blue eyes and a small scar on the corner of his lip. Huh, wonder how he got that? He also had a lot of tattoos, on his strong arms. Like, a lot. He looked pretty scary if I'm being honest.

He shook his head.

"Uh, okay. Have a nice evening."

A beggar came in. "Give me one dollar." he pleaded until he saw me. "Uh... forget it."

A beggar felt pity... For me. _A beggar._ Wow, that's a new personal low for me I think...

They all look at me differently. I could've lived without knowing that... Don't get me wrong, I love my new body but... It kind of opened my eyes. And not in good way.

I can observe how people feel when they look at me. People judge me by first impression. They judge me on looks alone.

But I'm still the same...

-Line Break-

It was now 3 in the morning, so of course everything was peaceful right now.

I got bored pretty fast, blame the ADHD.

Oh, maybe I could do some exercises! Lose some pounds! It's not like it'll be that busy right now. I looked around, to make sure I was alone, and got to it.

I tried to do sit ups, I couldn't... Uh, maybe crunches?

Yeah, that was a little easier. Barely.

Okay, skip that, I'll just do a couple of lunges, and some push ups afterwards.

Did I say some? I meant one.

Oh. Oh crap.

A customer entered. Right in the middle of my first, and probably only, push up. That's just awesome...

I looked up. And _of course_ , it had to be a beautiful girl. Sure, yeah, why not? In fact, I think she might just be one of the most beautiful girl's I have ever seen actually. She seemed to be of Native American descent, with chocolate brown hair that fell in waves. Her eyes, man oh man, a guy could easily get lost in those. They seemed to change color like a.. Kaleidoscope! They went from brown to blue to green, and every color in between.

I gulped. I didn't want to see her look at me like I was an insect, but I knew that that was inevitable. I mean look at me. I looked worse than usual, because I was sweating and probably red from all of the exercises I was doing.

"Um..." I said, because well... What else _could_ I say?!

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed. She combed her hair with her hand and looked pretty sheepish. "I work out a lot too, just like that... If I made you feel bad, I apologize."

And the most amazing thing happened. She looked like she _actually_ meant it! Not only that, she didn't look at me like everyone else does, she looked at me as if I was just another _**person**_.

"You must be tired! Here, drink this!" And then she placed this energy drink on the counter, with some money. She winked. "On me. Have a good night.. Perseus."

Oh my gods. My face was red for another reason now... And my heart was pounding for that same reason. She was **so** sweet!

So there are actual good people out there...

Wow. That was the first time anyone bothered to actually read my name tag. Yeah, I know what you were thinking, why on earth would you choose Perseus as your name and not just Percy? Well, it was just easier that way. If both bodies had exactly the same name, it'd be suspicious if anyone knew both bodies, right? That's why I go by, ugh, Perseus in this body. Yeah, I hated it too.

I sighed, thinking about the mystery girl.

I wish the world was filled with people like her.

-Line Break-

 **Third person's POV**

OUTSIDE THE CONVENIENCE STORE:

"Ah fuck, I think that bastard broke a tooth." Our good friend Thug 2 muttered.

"So humiliating... How the hell can we go back to school now?" Thug 3 bemoaned.

"I'm gonna kill that punk!" Thug 1 growled out.

'Yeah, right..' That's what everyone else was thinking, rolling their eyes.

"So, where's Frank?" The girl with them asked. "Hmph, without Frank, I'm going home, it's no fun then."

'Go! Please, leave.' All the guys thought.

They just waved away her questions.

"He's pretty reserved, so he won't spread rumors, right?" Thug 2 worried.

"Yeah, I've never heard a peep from him." Thug 1 agreed.

"If he does though, we can't help it." Thug 3 stated. "That nerd, Octavian saw us."

"Dude, we've messed with Dicktavian enough times, he could say something." Thug 1 said worriedly.

"You think?" Thug 2 asked smugly, grabbing his phone out of his pocket. "Guys, I don't think we have to worry about him."

He showed them the nude pic he took of Octavian, the same kind they took of Percy.

"Just to be sure, though, I'll call him over." Thug 2 said gleefully.

AT OCTAVIAN'S HOUSE:

*Ring. Riing. Riiing.*

Octavian, groaned. 'Who could be calling at this ungodly hour?' He wondered. Until he saw the caller ID.

He picked it up right away.

"Junior Octavian Thurinus speaking!" He said, jumping out of his bed.

"Hey punk! I told you to always answer right away!" Thug 2 growled out.

"S... Sorry!" Octavian stuttered out.

"Huh? Now? Yeah, of course I'll be there." He said.

He grabbed his jacket, and wallet and was off to the convenience store.

"Hey Octavian! Where on earth are you going at this hour?!" His mom asked him.

"Uh, convenience store." He shouted before leaving the house.

He ran as fast as he could, anxious to what fresh hell was awaiting him. 'I've only got 5 minutes.' he thought worriedly.

OUTSIDE THE CONVENIENCE STORE:

Octavian was sprinting, so close to the convenience store. He passed a blond guy who was sitting on the bench near the store.

'Phew, made it!' he thought, relieved.

"Oh, he's here." Thug 1 said unenthusiastically.

"Two minutes late." Thug 3 tsk'ed.

"You're late. Do I look that easy to you?" Thug 2 asked with a scathing tone.

"Who's this? He's cute." The girl said.

"I'm.. I'm sorry!" Octavian whimpered out.

"Well... He's no Frank, but you're okay." The girl said. "What's your number? Let's text! I'm hot, aren't I?"

"Ignore her." Thug 1 said, obviously irritated with the fact that she was still there. Everyone looked that way actually.

"Hey Dicktavian, you're not gonna spill the beans about what you saw today, right?" Thug 3 hissed.

"N.. No!" Octavian squeaked out.

He put out his cigaret. "I don't trust you."

"Uhm... Why am I here actually?" Octavian asked them, changing the subject.

"Oh, right." Thug 2 exclaimed. "Since you took so long to pick get here, my battery died."

"Ohh, uh, sorry?" Octavian said, still confused.

"You should be! So, go to the convenience store, and steal a charger."

Everyone laughed at that.

Octavian started sweating. "What? But... That's a crime!"

"Yeah? Well you know a secret of ours, so now we're gonna know a secret of yours." Thug 1 said smugly. "Be quick! We'll keep watch."

"Don't worry, the clerk's a total pushover hehe." Thug 2 reassured him.

Octavian gulped, and entered the store.

 **Percy's POV**

"Welcome!" I said, feeling like I was on top of the world. Oh, it was the guy from class. I didn't know his name.

He looked at me and seemed relieved. Yeah, I get it buddy. I guess we're on the same level on the food chain huh?

"Uh, excuse me, where are the chargers?" He asked.

"They're over there." I pointed out. I kind of felt sorry for him. I feel like he knows how I feel, to be bullied. It was a hard life, that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

He was staring at those chargers pretty intensely... He kind of looked conflicted too. What a weird guy.

I thought about the girl that came in here. I sighed. I hope she comes back here. Wait, what am I thinking? I barely know anything about her.

I looked back at the guy from my class and saw he finally made a choice. All right, I guess with all those different kinds of chargers, it is pretty hard to choose. Good for him!

Huh? What the fuck? He just put it under his shirt!

"Excuse me!" I shouted, making my way around the counter.

He was running away and shouted "I'll pay you next time!"

And then he tripped over his own feet. Ouch, that's gotta hurt! I walked over to him.

"Excuse me." I said, "A...Are you hurt? If I just let you go with that charger, I would get in trouble..."

He looked at me guiltily.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Someone bellowed. Lovely. It was the Thugs. "didn't I tell you to steal it?"

"Hey tubby." Thug 1 greeted me.

"What's that piggy? Gross." This girl said with a disgusted expression. Yeah? Well you're no supermodel either.

Ugh, why were they _here_?!

"Now we gotta shut the piggy up too!" Thug 3 exclaimed.

"What should we do?" Thug 1 wondered.

"Hmmm... Ooh, I got an idea." Thug 2 said gleefully. I didn't like the way he was looking at us.. "You two. Fight. We'll see who wins."

They all laughed.

The blonde guy and I just shared a look, silently agreeing not to fight.

"Yeah! That's a great idea! Contest of the weak!" Thug 1 said with a chuckle.

"Fight!" Thug 3 ordered.

"Tell anyone and I spread the nude pics." Thug 2 threatened.

No way! They had a pic of him too? Poor guy. Guess I shouldn't be surprised though, it seemed like it wasn't the first time.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you fighting?!" Thug 3 growled out.

"All right, how about this, whoever wins gets their nude pic deleted." Thug 2 proposed with a smirk.

"They aren't fighting." Thug 1 complained.

"Hm.. Fine. Let's make it interesting. If Dicktavian wins, no more serving us." Thug 2 declared.

That caught the blond guy's attention.

The other Thugs smirked. "Wow, Octavian would _love_ that!" Thug 3 exclaimed.

Octavian turned to me, and started punching me. It didn't hurt though, especially compared to my past beatings. I didn't fight back though. I could feel his desperation. I decided I'd let him win. He obviously needed this, no way was I gonna stand in the way of his freedom. I've already been in his situation. I get hit daily anyways.

Meanwhile, the Thugs and that one girl were roaring with laughter.

"Tubby, why aren't you fighting?" Thug 1 shouted.

"You want me to upload your pic on Social Media?" Thug 2 threatened.

"Go cutie!" That random girl shouted. What a weird girl.

They were all making a lot of noise. A lot of noise.

Enough, for someone outside the store to take notice.

"Enough." Someone shouted.

We all turned toward the guy who shouted. Oh, it was the scary tattoo guy! Huh, what was he doing outside the convenience store? Probably not the detail I should be focusing on at the moment...

"Heh? Mind your own business." Thug 1 retorted.

"Yeah, take a hike" Thug 2 added.

Thug 3 stayed quiet, he was squinting, as if trying to place the newcomer.

"Don't interfere or you'll be sorry!" Thug 2 threatened.

Thug 3 gasped. "Guys... GUYS!" He shouted. "Shut up. That's Jason Grace, the architecture class president!"

Jason kept staring at them. It unnerved them.

Their eyes widened. "That's... That's THE Jason Grace? The Lightning Bearer?!"

"Wow, he's my style!" The random girl gushed.

"Isn't everyone?" Thug 1 said wryly.

"Oh crap... The Lightning Bearer?!" Thug 2 shouted.

I was so confused right now...

What the hell is going on?

And as fast as lightning, Jason grabbed Thug 2 by the neck and lifted him. "You guys are bad guys." He said seriously.

"I'm sorry! Please, let me down!" Thug 2 pleaded, coughing.

He did, and dropped him. He turned towards the other Thugs and glared at them. "You guys want to get beat up?"

They all shook their heads.

"No!"

"Hey guys uhh, how about we head home?"

"Yeah, sounds like a plan!"

"Run!"

And they all ran away.

"Uh, sorry.." Octavian said to me sheepishly.

I smiled at him. "Nah, forget it. I get it dude."

Once the Thugs were out of sight, Jason turned towards us.

"You guys better start working out." He advised.

"Thanks Jason." Octavian told him earnestly.

"Yeah, thank you!" I told him.

He nodded in acknowledgment and looked at Octavian. "You know me from school?"

Octavian nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm in the fashion department."

"Fashion? That's the transfer student's class, right?" Oh, he was talking about me!

"Yup."

"The one who knocked down Frank?" Oh, shit. He heard about that huh? Wait... President of the Architecture department... Oh my gods! He was the architecture department's champion! Shit, he looked scary and strong. Really strong.

"Yup."

He looked serious all of a sudden. "Tell the new guy, don't screw around."

"Uh, okay."

I trembled. Better not screw around I guess...

And that's how I met Jason.

-Line Break-

THE NEXT DAY:

It was lunch, and I couldn't find Annabeth anywhere. I looked around and I saw Octavian, carrying 4 trays of food, talking on his phone. I frowned at that. I guess they were still messing around with him.

I saw him place down the trays and thought, eh what the hell.

Annabeth showed up beside me. "Hey Percy, want to have lunch?"

I smiled at her. "Uh, sure, but is it okay if someone else joins us?"

She frowned but nodded. "Okay, sure."

I waved in Octavian's direction and walked over to him. I smiled, in what I hope was a friendly manner and said "Hey, we're in the same class right? Want to eat together?"

He looked like he was... scared of me, but nodded anyway. All around us people were whispering, and glaring at him. Poor guy. I made up my mind, I was gonna become friends with him! I know when I was in his place, I would've really appreciated a friendly face.

"So, where do you live?" I asked him enthusiastically.

"Uh... With my parents." He answered back uneasily.

Frank and the Thugs entered the cafeteria and looked in our direction. They looked confused and angry.

People were whispering.

"Aw, he must be looking out for him!"

"He's got a heart of gold!"

"Wow, is that the guy who took down Frank?"

"Haha, yep."

"He's pretty."

Frank stiffened at that. He turned around, looking for the person who said that.

It was this tall buff guy, with short-cropped sandy blond hair. He wore sunglasses, and a snap back. He was also sporting a mischievous smile aimed at Frank.

"Wow, dude's handsome." The guys beside him exclaimed. He was an Asian guy, with glossy black hair and a slim wiry build. He also wore an eye patch and a snap back.

"I'm better looking though right?"

"Take off your sunglasses first." A Hispanic guy said. He had black hair and brown eyes, and was also wearing a snap back.

The blonde haired guy walked over to Frank and smirked smugly. "I heard you lost to that pretty boy, Frank. You drag around these ugly characters." He looked at the Thugs when he said that. They looked offended but didn't protest.

Frank glared at him. "Well... I lost to the pretty boy, but I could probably take you on Luke. And the rats you hang out with aren't normal either."

The two guys with snap backs glared at him, but stayed quiet.

"Hey. You wanna die?" Luke asked Frank seriously.

In a split second, Frank's fist was an inch away from Luke's face. "Try me."

Luke seemed to be sweating, but grinned. His hand was also an inch away from Frank's chest. Oh damn, Luke was also fast! If Frank actually punched him, Luke would've grabbed Frank and thrown him away.

I shuddered, oh my gods these were the champions of the departments! Based on their clothing, I'd say Luke and his crew were part of the Vocal & Dance department.

Everyone was staring at them, enraptured by the encounter.

"Frank Zhang and Luke Castellan, together!"

"Wow."

"Fight!"

"What? Fight? Frank and Luke? Really guys?" A familiar voice asked loudly. They stopped, and we all turned around. Oh shit, it was Jason, the guy that saved me yesterday!

Everyone started whispering. Understandable. I mean, there were three champions standing here. I shuddered, these were the people I should be avoiding, but...

There were two people beside Jason. One of them was a Hispanic guy, he was little short, had curly brown hair, dark brown eyes, pointy ears and an impish smile. He kind of reminded me of an elf. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes.

The other person was a Hispanic girl, with piercing black eyes and glossy black hair in a braid. She looked regal and beautiful, but also ready to take on any challenge. She had the poise of a sword fighter, ready to spring in action at any moment.

All three of them were wearing overalls. Huh I guess that's what they wear in the architecture department.

"May the best man win." The elf-looking guy said with a grin.

I gotta say hi to Jason! I just _have to_! He saved me yesterday!

I stood up and shouted "Hey!" to Jason.

Jason just frowned at me. Ah shoot, right! He probably didn't recognize me...

"That's the new guy.. Maybe he's picking a fight." The elf-looking guy whispered. No! Fuck no!

Jason looked at Octavian and then back at me. He was scowling now though.

"Uh.. Hey.." I stuttered out.

He walked over to me, still glaring. Lovely. What happened to avoiding champions, huh Percy?

"Who are you? Do you know me?"

I gulped. "Uh.."

"You. You've never been taken down, huh?" He asked seriously.

What's this? This was a very different vibe from yesterday...

He put his right hand on my shoulder and said "Even if you're good-looking and strong..."

And then he squeezed. **Hard.** "Don't screw around." He threatened.

Everyone was looking at me in horror. Even Frank and Luke looked at me with sympathy. Nico looked at us, I couldn't tell what his reaction was, because his hair was covering most of his face... If I had to guess, I'd say he looked horrified too.

"It's over."

"The squeeze of Death."

"Strong, but stupid."

It hurt. He kept on squeezing and squeezing my shoulder. Shit, he was so strong! It was like Hercules himself was squeezing my shoulder!

He looked confused.

"How is he not yet on his knees?" The girl beside Jason muttered.

"I don't know... Most guys are already on their knees by now, even Frank and Luke." The elf-looking guy said with a frown.

Oh, I get it! He must've thought I was mean! That I was forcing Octavian to do my bidding! That's why Jason was acting like this! I should just clear the air.

I grabbed Jason's arm and pulled it off of me. "Sorry if I bothered you... I uhh I thought you were someone else." I told him earnestly, with a smile, trying to smooth things over..

Everyone gasped the moment I pulled his arm off of me.

Jason and Luke looked shocked. Frank smirked.

"He... He shook off Jason's grip.." The elf-looking guys said with wide eyes.

"...with one hand!" The Hispanic girl finished, her eyes just as wide as his.

Jason glared at my hand.

I just kept on smiling, hoping everyone would just go back to what they were doing. I hated all of this attention.

Damn, Jason looked mad. What should I do? Maybe stop smiling? Or.. Keep on smiling? I don't know, I don't know!

"He's just sitting there grinning..." Luke said incredulously.

"...Like it's not a big deal?" Frank finished, just as incredulous.

Jason growled. Ookay, maybe I should stop smiling now.

Jason made a fist with his right hand. Oh, oh shit. I let go of his arm, only now realizing I was still holding it.

The Hispanic girl whispered something to the elf guy, and he looked horrified after that.

Before anything could escalate, his friend got between us and grinned sheepishly at me. "Haha, yeah! So you thought he was someone else?"

Huh. "Uh, yeah.. Sorry." I told him.

He just waved his hand. "Nah, don't worry about it hermano. It happens! What class are you in? Fashion?"

"Yup."

"Ohh, so **you'r** e the new guy?"

"Yeah!"

"Nice to meet you! I'm Leo, from the architecture department."

I grinned at him. "Likewise!"

All around us people were muttering and whispering.

"Damn, we missed a show!" Luke cursed.

"Leo isn't stupid dude." Frank told him. "If Percy beat Jason, that wouldn't be good for the Argonauts." Argonauts? I should ask someone about that later. I shuddered. Maybe that was a gang, like the Titans at my school... Then again, Jason was nothing like Kronos..

"I know, but still! Would've been nice to see."

Leo just glared at them and turned back to me with a smile. "How about we forget about all of this and just eat?"

I smiled at him. I would very much like that! "Okay!" I exclaimed. What a nice guy! He's so sweet! I'd love to be his friend! All around us people were _still_ whispering. Geez, can't they do something, anything, else?

"The new guy is the real deal!"

"He stood up to Jason!"

"Sick."

"He's cool!"

Jason looked at Octavian and me. "Hey little guy, don't surrender to guys like that. Believe in yourself.

"Hey shut up. Let's go eat." Leo told him.

"Okay, Reyna, you know what's on the menu?"

"Nope, you've got two eyes don't you?"

"Oh yeah. Thanks!"

And then they were gone. They're so cool, I wonder who the surrender talk was aimed at though?

I felt someone's gaze on me, so I turned and saw a guy surrounded by girls. He had shaggy blonde hair with different colors dyed into it, sky blue eyes and an athletic build. If I had to guess, I'd say he was in the beauty department. He seemed to be observing me. When he saw me look over, he smiled at me.

"Will, take a look at my hair!" A girl said beside him.

"No, my hair!" Another girl said.

-Line Break-

 **Third Person's POV**

AT THE BOY'S TOILET

"So, what you're saying is, we've got to get close to Percy?" Thug 1 asked, blowing out smoke.

"Yeah! You saw the way he stood up to Jason!" Thug 3 answered, cigarette dangling between his lips. "Ha, Jason lifted you with one hand!"

That was directed at Thug 2, who scowled at him and said "Shut up. Anyway, you think it's better if we get along?"

"Yeah, and we should have him and Frank make up." Thug 3 added.

"Let's step up and make a move." Thug 1 suggested.

"But how?"

"I've got an idea."

-Line Break-

 **Percy's POV**

"What? A get-together?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Thug 2 answered. "It's the start of a new semester after all!"

"We're having a get-together today." Thug 3 repeated.

"You should join!" Thug 1 proposed. "Friends should get acquainted!"

I perked up at that. Friends... A get-together! A valuable time, only for... friends! Finally! Friends! Granted, I never thought the Thugs would ever be my friends, but still.

Karaoke, amusement parks, gaming.. How I've dreamed of this! Life with friends...

I was so lonely! I've been so lonely till now. I looked at the Thugs, they were all smiling in a friendly manner.

You guys! You're good guys after all! Oh! Maybe we could take some sticker photos too... I could stick them to my phone. I can't believe it, I was so excited.

"You can come right?" Thug 1 asked.

"It's at 7." Thug 2 informed me.

Wow, today! Thank gods I have a day off today! What were the chances? I'm sure it won't be _that_ big of a deal to let my other body sleep a little longer.

I looked at them bashfully. "Well..okay. I think I can hang out for a couple of hours."

And then I saw Annabeth. She should join us! She's been nothing but nice to me after all.

"Hey Annabeth, want to hang out with us after school?" I asked her.

She smiled at me, looking ecstatic. "I'd love to Percy!"

The Thugs looked a little apprehensive at that.

"Uh... You sure there Percy?" Thug 1 asked me.

I frowned at them. "Yeah! You guys said it was a get-together for friends right?"

"Uhh, yeah I guess so. All right, sure if you want." Thug 2 said, smiling again.

I grinned at Annabeth. "Great! See you tonight at 7!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world Percy!"

-Line Break-

I was walking around, looking for the place they texted me.

I grabbed my phone and looked at my messages. I couldn't believe it. A chat room, with _friends_. It's like a dream! My chat rooms used to be nothing but prisons. I was either being ordered around or insulted. I really wanted to die.

MESSAGES:

 _ **Dakota (formerly Thug 1):** Yo Percy, where you at?_

 _ **Me:** Hey guys, I'm almost there. I just passed Rodeo._

 _ **Michael(formerly Thug 2):** Lol, k. Behind the lens shop, go into the alleyway._

 _ **Lee(formerly Thug 3):** Come up to the second floor restaurant._

 _ **Me:** Okay, got it._

I saw the alley they were talking about. I frowned. Is this the alley? Why would they want to eat here? It's so run-down... And the restaurant is on the second floor?

No way!... Is it...

I gasped. It must one of those hidden places for gourmets! My heart thumped in my chest and my mouth started watering.

Decent restaurant with friends. Pinch me, I **must** be dreaming!

We're gonna have so much fun and take sticker pics! The kind you can stick on your phone!

I entered the building and went to the second floor. I took a deep breath.

Behind these doors, are _my friends_!

I was so nervous! It'll be fine! I just have to act natural. They'll like me. They will!

I went in and scratched the back of my head. "H.. Hi!"

"Hey Percy! You made it!" Michael exclaimed happily. "This place is hard to find eh?"

"It's Percy!" Dakota shouted.

"Dude, come in, sit." Lee told me. "You don't need an ID here! It's awesome!"

But..

What caught my eyes, was an unpleasant, hazy place where nothing good was happening.

Everyone was sitting at a table, alcohol, cigarettes and junk food in front of them.

The three Thugs, um, guys looked happy to see me. Frank looked shocked and confused. And Annabeth looked a little uncomfortable, but she was dressed nicely.

"Hey Percy, sit beside me!" She exclaimed.

"What the fuck?! Why is he here?!" Frank shouted.

"Tada! Surprise!" Dakota said sheepishly.

"Come sit." Lee said. "You must be hungry."

"Dude, there's a place beside Frank." Michael pointed out to me.

Frank scowled at them. "What are you guys up to?" he asked suspiciously.

They were all bickering among themselves and all I could think was...

M.. Mom...

Alcohol?

Cigarettes?

Is this okay?

I felt like I was trespassing on forbidden territory.

* * *

 **Soooo, what'd you guys think? Loved it? Hated it? Any ideas you want to spitball? Let me know in the reviews! I reworked some of the other chapters, nothing major or anything, just fixed a couple of mistakes here and there.**

 **Anyhow, onto the reviews:**

 **To rippedsoul135: Aw, thanks dude! I'll do my best to continue uploading, things are just a little hectic atm with exams :(**

 **To Lillian Smith: Yass, glad you get it :D And yeah it wasn't really that realistic, Percy did win it pretty fast huh? I am not that good at fight scenes tbh, plus I like to think Frank was _not_ expecting that at all, and we don't really know exactly _how strong_ Percy really is, so there's that. **

**Thank you! I wanted to add in that scene, but I couldn't really do it in Percy's POV you know? So I thought, eh what the hell. Just add it as a bonus scene and voila!**

 **Percy is really _really_ insecure in this fanfic. I mean, all of his life he's been bullied, and remember how in the 2nd chapter (I think) he actually felt a little good about himself cause everyone was whispering and looking at him after he got that haircut, and it turned out they were all laughing at him. That did not help things at all tbh.**

 **That was exactly what I wanted to portray in this story omg! I'm glad you got it! :O**

 **To RPHoeben: Thank you!**

 **To CandyK1ng24:** **Heeeereeee you go dude! :D Don't know when the next chapter will come out though :(**

 **To .bean:** **Aww, thank you! He'll be around a lot in this fanfic, so don't you worry your little pretty head ;) I'll do my best to keep this up!**

 **All right, that's all of em! Thank you guys SO much for reviewing! I love reading them :) They definitely motivate me to update faster and write better. I wish you all a good life and uhh always belive in yourself I guess.**

 **Till the next one,**

 **X(::)X(::)**

 **Pencilvester**


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